Oct 18 Dee Haslam caused Browns' front office fiasco

Dee Haslam "has been running the team for the last two years," said Tony Grossi, He has been covering the Cleveland Browns since 1991. He works for ESPN 850 a.m. radio.

Dee's husband, Jimmy, is CEO of Pilot Flying J. Jimmy is running a $20 billion company, keeping tabs on the ongoing criminal prosecution of former Pilot key executives, and helping in the University of Tennessee's search for a new head football coach and athletic director.

How much time is left for running the Cleveland Browns? The Haslams own the team.

"It's been Dee, rather than Jimmy, that has been attending the NFL's League Meeting the last two years", said Grossi.

Here is how Dee Haslam caused the Browns' front office fiasco.

Dee fired Alec Scheider as team president. She assumed his duties without assuming his title.

The Browns are the only NFL team operating without a President or General Manager. Before he worked for Cleveland, Scheider helped run the Dallas Cowboys.

Sashi Brown was hired to have the final word on selecting players. He had no experience doing so. Brown's "three-year plan" for the team depleted veterans. Brown replaced half the team with first and second year players.

The results have been one win in two years.

The quarterbacks (QB) on the Browns have never won a game. The veteran QB who did was cut. The Browns are paying him $16 million to play for another team.

Despite its record, the football team is sticking to their plan. "We are not going to stray just because we met some challenges early on", said Sashi Brown, V.P. of Football Operations of the Cleveland football team.

Based on their management styles and temperments, which Haslam hired Sashi Brown?

Things can still get worse for the Haslams, the Browns, and their front office.

Dee Haslam's role running the Cleveland Browns has coincided with federal criminal prosecutions of key executives at Flying Pilot J. Pilot has been a Haslam family company for nearly 60 years.

Pilot Flying J used to be owned by the Haslams.

Earlier this month, it was sold to Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in the world. Over the next six years, the Haslams' ownership of Pilot will be reduced to 20 per cent. No longer will they own a majority share.

On April 15, 2013, hundreds of FBI officers raided Flying Pilot J offices in Knoxville. The company was accused of stealing money from 5500 of its customers. So far, the company has paid a $92 million fine and $58 million to thousands of customers. The rest are waiting to paid from a class action in U.S. Federal District Court of Eastern Kentucky, Covington.

Prosecutors have accused four former Pilot Flying J key executives of fraud, conspiracy, and tampering with a witness. Fourteen former Pilot employees have already plead guilty. By ratting out the Haslams, will the guilty be able to reduce their 20-year jail sentences?

The Haslams have never been charged with any criminal wrongdoing. Pending the Oct. 31st trial, that could change.

A Browns' ownership contingency plan was discussed four years ago in NFL headquarters in New York City. Who would take over the Browns if the Haslams could no longer run the team? Further discussion was delayed pending the outcome of the Halloween criminal trial.

According to Jimmy Donovan, Dee Haslam would take over running the Cleveland Browns in the event her husband, Jimmy, is indicted. Donovan broadcasts the Browns' games on radio and is also a news anchor at News Channel 3 WKYC in Cleveland, Ohio.